Remembering Brayden

This is a post all about my friend Brayden. Yesterday, October 15, was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remberance Day. While I have not experience either of these losses on my own, I have felt some of the pain of infant loss.

Brayden was born to my friends Beth and BJ on November 26, 2006. He was born under some pretty dramatic circumstances. Beth was at home and had some sort of a seizure. Her family found her unconscious in the bathroom. They rushed her to the hospital where Brayden was delivered by emergency C-section. It took them approximately 10 minutes to revive him. It turned out that Beth had suffered a stroke. It affected her hands and her speech. She under went dialysis for several weeks as well. During this time, we all prayed for Beth's recovery. We were unsure of how we needed to pray for Brayden because he was so sick. In addition to the problems which presented at birth, Brayden was also born with a cleft lip and palate.

I wanted so badly to pray for Brayden's full recovery, yet I was torn as to how to pray. Was his recovery to be God's will? Would Beth and BJ be able to cope and care for Brayden's multiple needs? I began to pray for God's will to be done, whatever the circumstance and to equip Beth and BJ to be able to handle whatever the outcome would ultimately be. I prayed that pray for some time, until I met Brayden and got to hold him. I then had a hard time praying for God's will -- I wanted Brayden to live -- and live a long life!!!

Beth was/ is an excellent mom. She enrolled him in early intervention the day he came home from the hospital! I remember her bringing him by the office and telling us to do the paperwork and get him started with services! I remember many mornings with Beth and I sitting in our office and her feeding Brayden through his G-tube before he went to his class. One of my favorite memories of that is she fed him and then he projectile vomited all over me. Why is that a favorite memory? Because I was sitting almost 4 feet away, yet I was covered!! Somehow it never seemed to matter to me when he spit up on me because it was Brayden. I almost think in some way, in dealing with Brayden, I started to realize how ready I was for a child. I loved Brayden with all my heart and he wasn't even mine!! Beth and BJ did so many things with him. They gave him every possible opportunity. They never took for granted their little boy. He went to the McWane Center, Bham Zoo, trips all over town. He went to the playground and went on the swings and slide.

One of the saddest nights in my memory came around 11:00 pm on November 6th, 2007. I received a phone call from our friend Donna telling me that Brayden had passed away. My heart physically hurt for my friend and for Brayden. I knew in my heart that this was God's will. But, how could that be? He was so small, so innocent, so perfect. He had no sin -- why was he taken away from us. However, his time had come. His purpose on this earth had been fulfilled. I went to the hospital that night to be with my friend. She didn't really know that we were there, but it just felt right that I was. It was very hard for me to tell the rest of my staff the next day. The funeral was very emotional for us all. Looking back, almost 2 years later ... I can see purpose in Brayden's death. I feel that Brayden has brought his mom and dad even closer together and made their marriage even stronger. I believe that he has made them both question God and begin to search for real truth and relationship with Him. I know that Brayden's life impacted a countless number of people, and if even one of those comes to know the Father as a result -- then wasn't it worth it? It will never be a pleasant memory, but I have so many happy memories, I cannot dwell on the sadness of his death. I choose to remember him in life, with his squeaky breathing and cuddly hugs.

Brayden -- on Alabama/Auburn Day at the daycare

Brayden and Beth meeting Bessie the Cow from Barber's milk.

Quatar and Brayden at the pool enjoying pool therapy.

Beth and Brayden on Halloween trick or treating at the daycare.

Toys

Toys"R"Us Wish List a gift registry for Birthdays, Holidays & special occasions

Shared via AddThis

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Well, in honor of Jumpstart's Read for the Record day, we participated at home! Sarah has her own copy of the book and she also has her own caterpillar, Hungry.

Daddy read the book to Sarah and Hungry. Sarah is learning to turn the pages when she reads a book, so she was a big help to Daddy. She also liked putting her fingers in the foods that Hungry was eating in the book.

When Daddy was finished reading to Sarah, Mommy helped Sarah to paint her very own caterpillar. She did a great job! She actually did much better than I thought she would do. She enjoyed playing in the paint. Daddy looked a little nervous, but he thought it was fun too!

So how do you like our finished product? I think it's a great caterpillar! Mommy and Sarah had a fun time painting together and Daddy had a great time reading to his little girl! A successful "Read for the Record" night!!

Jumpstart for the Record

Will you read with me?

This simple question is an invitation to share the joy of reading with a child in your life. We all know that reading aloud with preschool children lays the groundwork for strong literacy skills and future success in school and in life. In 2006, an initiative began caleld Jumpstart’s Read for the Record This is an international campaign to bring preschool children together with valued grownups in their lives to read the same book, on the same day, in communities all over the world. In 2008, I participated and read a book to our daycare and EI kids. The world record was broken as nearly 700,000 readers shared the classic children’s tale, Corduroy.

On October 8, 2009, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar was read aloud in classrooms, libraries and homes from Japan, Germany and Brazil to cities and rural communities across America. Hushed with wonder and tickled with giggles, children around the world simultaneously experienced the joy of reading.

In addition, this year was the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

The Fruit of Our Labor

This past summer, we attempted a garden. We planted sweet potato, basil, cilantro, oregano, lettuce, corn, cucumbers, cantelope, watermelon and tomatoes. Out of all of that, we really didn't harvest much of anything. We used some of the herbs and produced a few cucumbers. We did grow corn, but it only grew ears that were about 3 inches long. But ... that all changed the other night. I was at a child's house this week and the mom was talking about digging up her sweet potatoes. I wasn't sure when it was time to dig ours up, but she encouraged me to dig into the dirt and see if there was anything there. I was pretty sure nothing had grown, seeing as how nothing else had really produced anything. Well ... look at what we found ...

I started to dig and I hit a potato. Well, I kept digging and found more. I told Michael to go and get a bucket. This is a standard size mop bucket and it was almost full!!! The two green things are supposed to be watermelons -- very small! We'll see how those are when I cut into them this weekend. I was so excited! I ended up just sitting down in the muddy dirt and continuing to dig and dig. Of course, they were covered in mud (me too!) so I had to rinse them off in the yard.

By the time I had finished washing them off, I was shocked to find that I had grown 12 sweet potatoes!! Some of them are really big. I can't wait to use them this weekend!! What are your favorite ways to use sweet potatoes?

Which of these things is not like the other?

Look closely at the above picture ... hmmm, strangely enough it looks very familiar to me. Oh wait, i know why ... they are all MY toys! My parents had Sarah stay with them last weekend and they went and got all my favorite toys out for Sarah to play with.

I would like to introduce some of my favorite friends ...

From left to right -- Mr. Bear (actually is Sarah's panda bear), the ears sticking up behind Mr. Bear is Bun Bun (my childhood bunny), the dog is a random new addition, Pooh (my first Winnie the Pooh), Hunny (my first baby doll) and GroundNut (my first bear).

An interesting story about Groundnut ... wonder where he got that name? Well, you may have a stuffed animal in your past with the same ancestry ... just look at the tag. Mine says groundnuts. Hence the name! Granted, I now understand that Groundnut is actually MADE of ground nuts -- but as a child I didn't get that. I just thought it was nice that the people told me his name so that he would be happy living with a new family.

Who/What are some of your favorite childhood friends? Where are they now?

My little musical prodigy ...

Little Miss Sarah -- She's gotten sucked in! All through my childhood I took piano lessons. My mom tried to teach me -- not a good idea! I took from several different teachers, some good/some bad. Well, it appears that through some combination of Sarah and my mother - Sarah is now playing piano! The scary thing is, it really isn't terrible. Can you sing a song to it? Not really. It would fall under more of an abstract composition, but she's only 10 months! How old was Beethoven and Bach when they started to play? :)

She does seem to enjoy music. She loves her kindermusik class and enjoys playing and singing at home with mommy's crazy funny made-up songs. Who knows? Maybe music is definitely in her future. For now, I'm content with her banging around on whatever she can find!!

Sweet Sleeping Baby

It's been a crazy few months with Sarah's sleeping schedule. It is a constant struggle. She is in a very unique position in that she has an hour in the car coming and going from school. Therefore, she takes her nap after lunch and then also has another hour long nap in the car on the way home. So do you think she is sleepy at an appropriate time? Well, of course not!

Also, Sarah had been sleeping with us in our bed for about a month. We finally realized that she quit sleeping in her bed when we took the bumpers off of her bed. Well, we put them back on the bed and now she's decided to sleep in her bed again! Yea!! That means no more kicks to the head in the middle of a sound sleep.

Add to the sleeping craziness with a recent bout of croup (that resulted in an ER visit) and now teething is waking her up at night and I'm worn out! This post that I found describes our sleep "routine" with Sarah perfectly! The perfect post after trying to get Sarah to go to sleep around 7:30, her actually going to sleep at 9:00, waking up at 1:20, finally back asleep (thanks, tylenol) at 2:45, and mommy being forced to get up at 5:30. Have a great day. Don't expect me to work today ... I'll be under my desk taking a nap if you need something important!

(the following was originally posted at Buried with Children)

Finally after what seems like hours and hours of cuddling, singing and rocking the baby is asleep. He looks so peaceful, all silent and sleeping in my arms.

Is it time? Has he been sleeping long enough? Can the transfer from arms to crib take place?

This is the most terrifying part of the whole ordeal. Getting sleeping baby from my arms to the crib, all well keeping the peacefully sleeping baby asleep.It can go so well or it can go so terribly wrong if not done at the exact right time.

It would be a crime to wake him up.

He was to tired, well actually over tired hence the need for rocking in the first place. He was not going to succumb to sleep on his own come hell or high water.

But after some time all cuddly and warm with Mommy, rocking until she felt nauseous, sleep came.

Sweet beautiful sleep.

Now its time to get him in the crib so Mommy can have some much needed Mommy time. There was no blogging this morning and Mommy has not checked her email in at least an hour.

Time to sleep soundly in your crib, little man.

Slowly, every so slowly, one butt cheek at a time, slide to the edge of the chair.

Wait he moved.

Stop! Sit... very... still.

Silence. False alarm, it was just a sigh. Continue.

From the edge of the chair, we must stand. It is going to have to be quick. One fluid movement that won't cause the chair to squeak too much. Damn, squeaky chair.Where is the WD40 when you need it?

No time for that now, ready... one, two, three..... stand!

Perfect, still fast asleep. He did not even move a muscle.

Ever so steadily walk across the room to the crib, not too fast, not to slow, just the perfect pace. So close, almost home free.

Lean over....Wait!

Good God he is moving, stirring, eyes opening.

Sway!

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Shhhhh, little one back to sleep. That's a good boy.

Whew, that was close. His breathing has settled. He seems to be wrapped in the peacefulness of deep sleep once again.

All that is left, is to lean over, lay him down and run.

Pull him away from my body and quickly and gently, place him down as I pull my arms out from underneath him.

Then go, RUN, out of the room.

He will stir but if I am not seen, sleep will return.

There it is done!

He is asleep in his crib. Yippee!!!!

Now its time..... what the.....!

CRYING.

*sigh*

Back to the rocking chair.

Need Hope?

Our church, Hunter Street Baptist Church, is doing a year long emphasis on Hope. We all need hope. For the average person, we hope that things turn out okay. We hope that we have a good hair day. We hope that we make the light because we're running late to work. However, what is hope? Where does our hope come from? The answer lies in one place ... "Christ Jesus our hope. (1 Timothy 1:1)"

We all have days, weeks, months, etc ... that we feel hopeless. Perhaps it is a bad job situation or an illness. Perhaps your marriage is struggling or you are frustrated with your kids. Perhaps it is something more, like a death. Death can be physical, but also spiritual. Are you feeling dead and lifeless, or do you have hope in something more?

A few weeks ago at church, we saw a visual representation of hope. Our hope is in the Lord. Watch this ... see the power of our God. You'll not be the same afterwards. I've not been able to get it out of my mind, and its been almost a month. It would be so easy to be in the same situation as these people - any of them - would I have the same reaction and be able to share the same testimony that they do? I pray that I would be able to, I pray that for you also.

Watch the video ... find hope.

Proud To Be Southern

The Knowledge of Southern Women

Southern women know:

Their summer weather report:
Humidity
Humidity
Humidity

Their summer vacation spots:
The beach
The rivuh
The crick

Everybody's first name:
Honey
Darlin'
Shugah

The movies that speak to their hearts:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Driving Miss Daisy
Steel Magnolias
Gone With The Wind
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Their religions:
Baptist
Methodist
Football

Their cities dripping with Southern charm:
Chawl'stn
S'vanahFoat Wuth
N'awlins
Addlanna

Their elegant gentlemen:
Men in uniform
Men in tuxedos
Rhett Butler

Their prime real estate:
The Mall
The Country Club
The Beauty Salon

The 3 deadly sins:
Having bad hair and nails
Having bad manners
Cooking bad food

Additional Suthen-isms:
Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit, and that you don't "HAVE" them, you "PITCH" them.

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc.., make up "a mess."

Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."

Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is, as in: "Going to town, be back directly."

Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.

All Southerners know exactly when "by and by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.

Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin!

Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" and "a right far piece."
They also know that "just down the road" can be 1 mile or 20.

Only a Southerner, both knows and understands, the difference between a redneck, a good ol' boy, and po' white trash.

No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.

A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.

Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines, ... and when we're "in line,"... we talk to everybody!

Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're related, even if only by marriage.

In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.

Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.

Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.

When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself lookin'," you know you are in the presence of a genuine Southerner!

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it -- we do not like our tea unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk.

And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway. You just say,"Bless her heart" ... and go your own way....

To those of you who are still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take two tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart!

And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff, ... bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes on Southernness as a second language!

And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, all y'all need a sign to hang on y'alls front porch that reads "I ain't from the South, but I got here as fast as I could."

Southern girls know men may come and go, but friends are fahevah !

We love LaLa!

This is Lauren. Michael and I think she is wonderful ... but most importantly, Sarah loves her! Lauren has been Sarah's babysitter all summer while Michael was in school at Montevallo. We truly believe that Lauren has been an answer to our prayers about summer childcare.

Lauren graduated from Samford University in May with her degree in elementary education and will start this week at Cherokee Bend Elementary School in Mountain Brook. I am so sad that Lauren will not be around to play with Sarah! I'm sad that I wasn't able to say goodbye and goodluck to her because of work schedules.

I know that we will still see Lauren from time to time when she keeps Sarah for a much needed date night for Mommy and Daddy. However, I hate that our daily time has come to an end. Lauren, we have loved having you in our home. Sarah has loved the time that you've been with her. I have always felt 100% confident in leaving my child with you. Thanks for everything!!!

Fun with Friends

Sarah enjoyed playing with her friends at the pottery party.

Here's Sarah and Eveline. Eveline is the daughter of some of our really good friends, Matt and Kay. Eveline is 11 months old.

Here is Sarah and Adam. We thought that Adam was coming over to play with Sarah, but he was going after the camera instead! Adam is 6 months and the son of our friends Michael and Beth.

Anna is a great big sister to her brother Adam. We were at their house for the pottery party. Anna wanted to hold Sarah. She thought Sarah was much calmer than her brother! :)

Working on Christmas Gifts

This past weekend, we were invited to a pottery party. Sarah was excited about going and painting some things for Christmas gifts. I'm trying to teach her the importance of giving ... :)

So, we went and painted some things ... hmmm, wonder what she's painting and who is it for? Guess you'll have to wait until Christmas to find out!

I've been working hard!

Sarah has learned so much in her short little life. This summer, she's done a lot. All that time with Daddy has really paid off ... we may be able to avoid spending the money on a maid now! :)
Here's Sarah at 4 months - dressing up in Daddy's clothes while Mommy did the laundry.

Here she is at 4 months helping to do the laundry by sorting the clean socks.

We've really progressed and now here she is at 7 months helping to dust. How sad that Daddy has already taught her how to use a Swiffer Duster ... definitely her daddy's little girl!

First (and Hopefully Last) Surgery

Sarah got tubes placed in her ears last week. She did great through the whole procedure. For the past month or so, Sarah has had an ear infection. First it was in both ears, then the right ear, then the left ear. Finally, we (us and Dr. Stone) had had enough! He made us an appointment with Hoover ENT and we saw Dr. Boyd. He spoke with us for about 10 minutes and confirmed that tubes would be the answer and scheduled us for the next week. It was important to us that we get this done soon before Michael and Sarah go back to school. Also, being the speech therapist, I wanted it done soon so that she wouldn't suffer from any hearing loss due to the infections. The whole procedure lasted 10 minutes max. Sarah did fine, mommy cried a little ... daddy ate coke and goldfish! :) Seriously though, I have a wonderful husband. After they took Sarah away from us, and I'm crying, he prayed for Sarah, the doctors and me. I love him so much! I love little bug ... glad we are hopefully done with ear infections.

Beach Trip

We went to the beach a few weeks ago with my family. Sarah had a great time, but it is definitely a new experience going to the beach with an infant! She liked/tolerated the beach -- hard to tell which! She ate some sand and thought that was funny. She loved the pool, rode on a carousel for the first time and finally cut her first tooth!

Happy July 4th to everyone!! I hope that you enjoy this picture of Sarah in her little tutu! I had fun making her outfit. She enjoyed the day with family. Of course, she was asleep before the fireworks started! We hope you had a great holiday!



On a side note ... if anyone is interested in a unique gift, I'll be happy to make you a tutu and or flag window. I'm thinking about selling them. What do you think?

Unparalleled Cuteness to Come ...

Stay tuned this weekend for this cutest baby ever in all of her July 4th Finery ... :)

The Arc of Jefferson County's Children's Services Website

Hey ... I designed a blog for where I work ... go check it out!

http://childrensarc.blogspot.com/

Can you name these classic toys? - sporcle

Can you name these classic toys? - sporcle

Shared via AddThis

Fun Times

Yesterday, our good friend Amy kept Sarah for us while Michael had rehab and class. Amy has a little boy, Tyler, who is 21 months old. I am sure that Sarah and Tyler had fun. Pretty sure that Amy was probably exhausted last night and told Keith that another baby was not coming anytime soon! :)

Here's Sarah hanging out in Tyler's old exersaucer. I'm pretty sure that she's wishing she could borrow it because this one is way cooler than her Baby Einstein one!


Here's Sarah and Tyler ... one day we'll be great friends!


Also, I can't forget about the Blakes (Cindy, Laura and Caroline). Sarah had an awesome time with you and we can't wait for you to come over again soon. We hope that Sarah will grow up to be just like these two girls. Their parents have raised them well and they are the sweetest girls ever!

Michael and I are so blessed to have such wonderful friends to help us out when we need help with Sarah. It has been so nice to not have to worry about a thing and know that my child is in capable hands and is having a great time while Mommy and Daddy are busy and away! We are also super excited that Lauren (regular babysitter) will be back next week! She's been in Honduras this week on a mission trip.

Pictures of Sarah

You've all been asking for it ... so here you go. Here are a few pictures of our little angel. These are pictures from the past few weeks. Sarah will be 7 months old on Friday. It's hard to believe!!

Sarah ready to go swimming ...

Sarah exploring her playpen ...

Sarah went to see her Great-Grandmother recently ...

My little girl is growing up ...

I know that I haven't posted in a long time, and its not because I haven't wanted to ... but it is often hard to find the time. I've had a lot in my head lately that I've meant to post about, so i'll try to remember some of it over the next several days and post it!

First on my mind lately is sleep. No, Sarah is not having problems sleeping. Michael is in grad school at University of Montevallo. He is enrolled in the May term. Basically, this means they cram an entire semester into 2 weeks. His class is from 4-7, he gets home by 8 and then he has homework and reading to do. I've been staying up helping when I can, but that means that we are not going to bed until close to 11. that is super late for us!

also, as part of michael being in class, i am having to leave work a little early each day and drive down to columbiana to pick up sarah from school. basically, it is an hour drive there, get out and pick her up (15 minutes) and then get back in the car for an hour. it is wearing on us all. luckily, we are almost done with the first week.

next week is michael's last week of regular school. wednesday is the 6th grade class party. they are going to trussville play station, thursday is the 6th grade graduation banquet (i'll likely bedoing the food for it) and friday is his final at UM and also CCS graduation. i'm taking off next thursday and friday because i need a break and i deserve it! :)

one thing that we have really been struggling with is summer arrangements for sarah. michael will be in class from 12-5 for most of june and july. we have been worried about where she will go. we really wanted someone to come to our house and keep her, but we just didn't think that would be possible due to money. well, GOD IS FAITHFUL!! last weekend we met a girl who was interested in keeping sarah. she was referred to us by our hairstylist/friend. she was perfect, but we figured she would want more money than we could offer. last night we got an email from her and she feels that god is leading her to accept our offer and stay with sarah this summer. i am so thankful and relieved. she is graduating from samford this weekend and then she will be going to honduras on a mission trip for one week in june. we just know that god has his hand on this situation and that this is the perfect person for us and for sarah.

i really should probably get back to work. its probably a little unprofessional to blog while you're at work. what about twittering? is that unprofessional? i'm not sure anymore since i saw people in the business office on facebook this week. oh well ... have a great thursday!

Sleep is a beautiful thing.

Of course, I wouldn't know of that beauty because our little princess has not been sleeping well this week! It is mostly my fault -- or at least I blame myself. She has been eating real fruits and veggies for almost 2 weeks. She loves them!! So far she has had sweet potatoes, sweet peas, pears, prunes. The problem is ... she loves them, but they do not love her back! My poor baby has been up multiple times this week screaming, supposedly because her stomach hurts. At least that is our best thought.

Last night, I finally gave her a glycerine suppository. Wow! What an experience! Who knew that much could come out of such a little thing. (We even threw away a towel because it just wasn't worth the effort to clean up!) We were sure that we were going to finally get a good nights sleep, because how could she NOT sleep after the night she'd had?!

Well, she didn't sleep. She does good until midnight or so, and then its all over! We were up with her multiple times. She finally got in a good sleep pattern about the time to get up. So, I sent her to school in her pajamas and a wet diaper so that I wouldn't have to wake her up. Don't worry, I sent real clothes and her daddy will change her when he gets there!!

So, I think now we are going to back off of food for several days. I am sad by this because it has been so much fun for all of us to see how well she is eating her food. But, I cannot feed her if her little system isn't ready to digest it yet. On a positive note, I have some great pictures of her eating ... I'll try to get them up this weekend.

Please pray that her body will regulate and that we will be able to get some sleep this weekend. I'm getting a cold, and I think its because my body feels run down. Oh, and of course going from temps in the 70s to 30s don't really help!

Sarah's first snow!

On March 1, 2009, Sarah saw snow for the first time. Granted, we live in Alabama, so it may be the only time she sees it for several more years! I know that it is cold and that our child is prone to ear infections, but do you really think I'm going to let this event happen without her getting outside in it!?

We bundled her up and took her outside. It was hard to tell what she thought about it. Her little eyes were watery and her nose and cheeks were red from the cold. At least she didn't hate it!

More images from the past month

Here am I with my two favorite children ... Sarah and Gus. This month, Sarah had her first sleepover with her cousin Steven Riley. Also, she enjoyed Grandpa coming for a visit.

February

Wow! The weeks just seem to fly by. The month of February was full of excitement as usual. Sarah came down with her second major bout of ear infections. I turned 33 years old, Sarah turned 100 days old. We also had her dedication at church. The following are some of our favorite images from the month.




To my little Saree-bug ...
I can't believe that you are already 100 days old. The time has gone by so fast. It is hard to believe that you were growing inside of me for all of those months and that now I have you here to hold. I love you so much. You mean the world to me. I am so honored and blessed to have you as my daughter. One day, we will be great friends. I want you to be able to share your life with me. I promise to not judge you to harshly, but allow you to make decisions and mistakes in your life. I believe that it is important for your daddy and I to allow you to fail from time to time, because that is what happens sometimes ... but know that your daddy and I will always be there to pick you up and start you back down the path again. We will always be here for you little bug. You are our everything. I love you from here to forever.
Love,
Mommy

Sarah Update

This week (Wednesday), Sarah will be 12 weeks old. We took her to the doctor today to check her ears to make sure that she is ear-infection free. Michael and I had our suspicions, since she has had a mild (99*) fever for most of the weekend. However, her ears look clear! Dr. Stone said that he only guarantees his diagnosis for ear infections for 24 hours -- after that, all bets are off and she could develop one still! The biggest surprise was her weight. She now weighs 10 pounds 5 ounces. Can you believe it?! She's growing up! :)

Praise Report -- Michael's mom is doing very well following her surgery last week. She is being able to eat some pureed foods and tolerate liquids well. One of our friends from sunday school even assisted in her surgery -- thanks Dr. Scarcliff!

Have a great weekend.

S.W.A.K. (Sealed with a Kiss)

I found this fun little challenge today, read the accompaning post that I copied over for your viewing (and kissing) pleasure!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My hubby and I have been married 14 years.
We have three children.
We've been thru a lot.
I think we have a great marriage. We communicate well. We fight fair.
But I want it to be even better.
And it starts with me.

Busy schedules, demanding children, job pressures and selfishness gives our marriage a beating. And we have to fight to keep it healthy, to keep it passionate.

I entered this New Year wanting to initiate more time for us. I want to capture moments to remind him that before all of this, there was just us. The two of us.

I was flipping through January's Woman's Day Magazine and a title caught my attention "Lock Lips with Your Husband."

Reading the blurb, I learned that there is an actual chemical released when you kiss called The Cuddle Chemical. It produces a euphoric feeling. And an unplanned passionate kiss increases the chemical.

Now, let's be honest. I kiss my hubby everyday. A peck here. A smooch there. But a knock-his-socks off K-I-S-S? Well, there's dinner and a toddler pulling on my leg, a ringing phone, and endless homework. And not to mention the utter exhaustion I feel at the end of the day.

Well. You know. It's hard.

I'm issuing my own personal Kiss Challenge for myself. For 30 days, starting Feb. 1st, I'm planning to passionately lock lips with my hubby. To block out all distractions for a few minutes and lay one on him.

I think just this one simple act will speak volumes to my man.

{You can secretly join in too if you up to some serious smooches}

The days leading up to Valentine's Day (Feb. 11-13), I will be having a little S.W.A.K. carnival. I want you to link up a post honoring your hubby anytime during those three days. It can be how you met, your first kiss, what you're doing to celebrate Valentine's Day, or about your own personal Kiss Challenge.

For several days, I will be sharing some of my marriage secrets, my fau paxs and what I've learned.

You might also want to stock up on some chap stick. I'm just sayin'.

Tell me what you think....can we join together {on Valentine's Day} to honor our hubbies in some way?

You DO NOT have to join the Kiss Challenge to link up to the Valentine's Day carnival!

Food for the Soul:
Song of Solomon 1:16 "[ Beloved ] How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant."




-----------------------------
So, I can relate ... Michael and I will have been married 3 years in March. It has been a wonderful three years. But, now that Sarah is here ... our time together (just us) is limited! Also, we are involved in a marriage mentoring class at church. We want to be intentional with our marriage and put each other first. Without each other, there would be no family unit! So, think about it ... are you up to the challenge? Want to participate in the SWAK carnival?

Happy Monday!

my little angel

Such a pretty girl ...

My poor little angel ... not happy during this picture.

Our little Anne Geddes baby ...

Sarah is already praying ... now I lay me down to sleep ...

Here are some pictures that we took last week at a place in town. I thought they turned out very well. I can't believe that she is already 11 weeks old. She is sleeping through the night (knock on wood, cross fingers, etc.) most nights.

Also, please pray for a few people this week --

My friend Amanda's mom passed away last week. A family at church lost their three month old little boy to SIDS. Michael's mom had hernia repair surgery.

Sarah's sick

Well, it finally happened. Sarah got sick. Just last night we were talking about how we were so lucky that Sarah had not really been sick yet. Oh sure, she's had the sniffles, but nothing really to speak of. Well, Michael has been sick for a week so it was bound to happen.

Michael called me today from school and told me that Sarah hada fever. I went to pick her up from school and took her to the doctor. It's a good thing! She has an ear infection in one ear, the other ear almost is infected and she has bronchiolitis. So, now we have our first antibiotic.

On a positive note, Sarah weighs 9 pounds and 10 ounces! :)

I forgot

I'm sorry that I haven't posted more regularly. In essence, I forgot! After all, we have an 8 week old!! Actually, she's 8 weeks today, so happy birthday sweetiepie! :)

Life is great! Michael and I both are back at work full time. The transition from stay at home mom with a newborn, back to work ... not very fun. I was sad to go to work and not be at home with Sarah, but I know that it is for the best. She is at school each day with her daddy. They are quickly forming a very strong bond during the two-hour long commute (round trip) to work each day.

Sarah is eating much better than in previous weeks. She is fairly consistent about eating 4 ounces at a time. She is also sleeping more. Most of the time, she will go to bed between 7:30 and 8:00, wake up and eat at 12ish and 2:30ish. Then we have to wake up her up around 5:30 or 6:00 to eat and get ready for school!

On a more serious note, Michael's mom may be having surgery on her esophagus later this month. It is a pretty dangerous surgery, but we are optimistic that it will fix a lot of her problems. Also, our friend Amanda's mom is in the hospital in Little Rock. She has been undergoing treatment for myeloma, but now she has pneumonia. Please pray for both of these situations.

Hope things are going well for all of you. We will try to post some pictures over the weekend so that you can see how much Sarah has grown! She is now 23 inches long (90th %) and weighs 8 pounds 12 ounces (30th %).